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                    On Disk Monthly #83

                          ASK ODM
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Dear ODM

When Issue #80 of ODM arrived, I was very excited to see Cribbage Companion and have spent a huge amount of time playing it.  My only complaint would probably be considered carping--I can't STAND the stupid remarks made by the computer player as his cards are played, e.g., wondering which card he should play when he only has one left.  If the program is ever updated, one hopes you would  eliminate the chitchat.  However, the actual program is wonderful, and it's great to be able to play when a human companion is not available.

Sincerely,
Mary McManus

Dear Mary

I am sorry that you find the comments in Cribbage Companion to be so irritating.  I can't argue with you about the particular comment you cite, that one is pretty stupid.  Maybe we should have avoided trying to be "cute," but we thought the comments would add to the game, not detract from it.  Thanks for the kind words about the game itself, though.  We appreciate your support.

Sean Golden,
ODM Product Manager

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Dear ODM

I don't know what Print Shop Images are supposed to do.  Your product is not informative enough on how to use them.  What are they supposed to do?  What file is it?  What does it work with and not work with...?

As for New Wave Sounds, how do I use them without Windows?  How do I .exe it?  What files does it work with?  And so on...

Above all, these people with sorry attitudes, tell them to clean it up!   I've called three times this week to inquire where my disk is because I haven't received it yet.  They tell me, "don't worry you'll get the 
disk," or "Haven't you gotten it yet?"  I don't know where it is.  I'm not the Post Office.  Finally, 4 1/2 weeks after ordering, I get the disk.  Until you clean up your attitude, or clean up your mail service, I ain't gonna subscribe.

James Siler,

Dear James:

?.

Print Shop Images are designed to be used by Print Shop, a program published by Broderbund Software.  Print Shop is one of the most widely used programs in the world, so we publish graphics in a format that users who own Print Shop can use.  New Wave Sounds are Windows format sound files.  I don't know how you can use them without Windows.  They are designed for use with Windows, and we clearly stated that throughout our instructions.  If you don't have Windows, you probably CAN'T use them.

We're a monthly product.  If you ordered a disk just after we mailed out one of our issues, then it will take about a month to get the next one.  I'm sorry you aren't happy with this arrangement, but I don't know what we can do about it.

Sean Golden,
ODM Product Manager

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Dear ODM

I received On Disk Monthly #80 today.  Love the Birthday card.

I was disappointed that I could not hear the New Wave sounds.

I have a Tandy 1000 rlx vgm-220 Deskmate.  I think I should be able to hear the sounds, but I do not know how.  I was told by your Tech Support people that I would have to have Windows; I am hoping they are mistaken.

Sincerely,
Beatrice D. Taylor

Ms. Taylor

What our Tech Support staff has told you is correct.  The Windows items we publish do indeed require Windows.  This is a difficult dilemma for us to be in.  Many of our subscribers complain that we have not met their needs for Windows items, yet every time we publish items specifically for Windows we get mail from people who are not happy with us for publishing them.  Now that we have gone to a larger disk format, I hope this will not be as much of a problem.  But I do expect to continue to receive mail like yours.  I wish we could offer an On Disk Monthly product that could run our Windows offerings, but that is simply beyond the scope of our staffing and ability.  I hope you understand.

Sean Golden,
ODM Product Manager.

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Dear ODM

Pat on the back:
I have been a subscriber to ODM as far back as BBD (Big Blue Disk) and I love every issue; keep the good work up.

Suggestion:
I use Windows and I'm glad you are starting to do Windows programs on past and present issues.  This brings up a suggestion: after installing the issue on my hard disk, I set it up to execute through Windows, but it is hard to locate an appropriate icon, so, how about making your ODM logo a Windows icon.  Such as ODM## (##=issue number)  I'm sure this .ico file will not take up much disk space.  This will make it easier to find the issue each month after installing it onto my hard drive.

Problem:
I just recently started to use Norton Utilities Image program in my Autoexec.bat file.  I use Jacket II that was on a previous issue and have had no problems using it until I started to use Image.  I'm sure the problem is a TSR conflict because I can still use Jacket if I boot without Image.  Is there a way I can use this program without going through the trouble of rebooting my disk?

Thank you in advance
R.H.

Dear R.H.

Thank you for your kind words, we appreciate them here at ODM Central.  As for your Windows icon question:  OK we'll do it.  Or something very much like it.  I'll get our Art department to look at designing some Windows icons.  We've talked about this before, but haven't gotten around to it yet.  Look for an icon on our next issue.

Your Jacket problem can have two sources, the most likely being a memory problem.  Once you install a TSR it takes up a certain amount of memory.  If you have more than one megabyte of memory available you might want to check out some of the memory managers on the market today.  Of course DOS 6.0 helps this problem somewhat, but if you want to work with older versions of DOS, you will have to get something that loads your TSRs into your extra memory so they don't waste any of your basic 640K of DOS memory.

Having said all that, let me warn you that more memory may not solve your particular problem with Jacket and Image.  We don't have a copy of Image here, so I can't test this suggestion.  Image may be doing things that cause problems with input and output, if so there will be no solution other than to boot without it when you want to run Jacket.  I think the problem is memory though.

Sean Golden,
ODM Product Manager

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Sirs:

I have been a subscriber since issue #60 and I salute you for the progress you have achieved in trying to satisfy such a broad spectrum of computer users that subscribe to your service.  The last few issues (nos. 77, 78, & 79) have been especially great.  I particularly love Memo Writer and the new templates; I use them almost every day.  Is there any reason why I cannot use my mouse with it?  (IBM AT - VGA)

A few comments:

1. Games are great - love the solitaire games.
2. Not enough room to load chess in RAM.
3. Can you put the screen savers to come on automatically?
4. Do you have a fax number?
5. Many of us use desktop publishing and would love 
   to add more fonts and/or graphics and templates.

Yours truly,
Nicholas Izzo

Dear Nicholas:

What a great letter.  You have hit many of the key points that I have had to deal with since coming into this department.  Now I have a chance to deal with these things in the Mailbag.  Thanks.

Okay, first, thanks for the comments on the latest issues.  Since those are the issues I have been involved directly with, I'll take the comments personally.

Second, your comments on Memo Writer bring out a very intriguing possibility, one that I would like to pursue.  We have tried, on several occasions in the past, to publish templates for popular programs (such as Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, or others) but have had a mixed response from our customers.  However, when we published the new templates for Memo Writer, the response was almost universally positive.  What gives?  Should I try to publish some templates again?

Finally, your comments on the specific programs we have published:

We'll continue to do Solitaire games.  As a matter of fact, I intend to focus on them and publish one on at least every other disk.

You may be able to run Chess by making a "boot disk."  To do this you need to create a disk that has DOS on it, but none of your TSRs or anything else that uses up memory.  Once you have created one, you should be able to boot from the floppy and then run Chess.

I have been studying the problem of screen savers for ODM for several months now.  I wrote a pretty nice one for the Mac when I was the Product Manager for Diskworld, and I would like to have one of my programmers do the same for DOS.  But doing one is very difficult for the following reasons.
1.  You have to support several different video modes.
    In other words, the screen saver should work no 
    matter what video mode you happen to be in when 
    the screen saver pops up.
2.  You have to support several video cards.  Many 
    video cards do things in very incompatible ways.  
    It is probably impossible to create a screen 
    saver that works on all video cards.
3.  You need to be able to save off the current screen
    whenever the screensaver pops up.  If you are set
    to one of the super VGA modes (1024 x 1024 by 256
    colors, for example) you need several hundred 
    kilobytes of memory available just to store off 
    the current screen so you can restore it when the
    screen saver ends.  We are still working on this.
    The "screen savers" we have published are not
    actually screen savers at all.  We call them 
    "graphic demonstrators" around here.  In Windows
    you don't have to worry about all of these
    problems, so we have been able to write screen
    savers for Windows.
4.  Yes we have a FAX number, it is listed in the
    credits section and in the Marketplace.  The
    number is: 1-318-221-8870.
5.  Ah, fonts and better graphics.  I guess you'll 
    like this issue.

I hope this answer has helped to clear up your questions.

Sean Golden,
ODM Product Manager

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Dear Sirs:

Enclosed are all the report cards from every issue since I subscribed. I will answer the standard questions in the report card as well as comment on the programs I am using in my CPA practice.

1) MemoWriter
   Obviously I like it, because this letter is written
   with it. There is one problem that seems to apply to
   all ODM programs; that is, how do I delete a file?
   To do this I must use XTree Gold.
2) Freeform Database 2
   There are two problems with this program.  You can't 
   see the results of adding or deleting a line 
   immediately on-screen.   This can be confusing and 
   can cause you to delete or add more than you 
   intended.  Secondly, the file comes out double-space 
   when you print it out.
3) FormKing 
   Absolutely FABULOUS program!
4) PC Calc
   I intend to learn this and use it exclusively.  I 
   would like to see an "Accountant's" 
   worksheet template, if possible.

Very truly yours,
William R. Stevens

Dear Mr. Stevens:

Thank you for a very nice letter.  I am glad to see that you enjoy and use our product.  I also appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Why can't you delete files from within our programs?  Because we don't want you to, that's why.  Seriously, we are not being contrary, there is method to our madness.  Deleting files is a function that we define as "potentially data destructive."  We have made a management level decision that functions which can destroy data must be very carefully applied.  This is particularly true with new users.  We have therefore left it up to the user to use DOS or some other utility to delete files no longer needed.  The potential for losing data by accidentally clicking on an OK button when you are lost in a new program was seen as too dangerous for the new user.

Sean Golden,
ODM Product Manager

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To: Softdisk IBM

Subject: Birthday Card

Your Birthday Card program on issue #80 is quite clever.  I have a couple of questions about it.

1. When I create a card and copy it to a separate disk,
   the candles no longer flicker.
2. The copied disk actually contains the BC.EXE file.  
   That means if I send a birthday card to someone,
   they get the actual program along with the card.
   What gives?

Sincerely,
T.B. Wanberg

To:  T.B Wanberg
Subject: Birthday Card

I wondered who would spot this.  You are right on both counts.  If you run Birthday Card from ODM or from a copy made from ODM, it will flicker the candles.  If you create a card it will not.  This is because once you have created a card, it uses whatever graphic file you set it up to use, which may be different from the one we supplied.  If you used a new graphic background and we tried to flicker the candles, it would not look right.  So the candles don't flicker.

We decided to make Birthday Card a sort of software amabassador for On Disk Monthly.  In other words, you can use Birthday Card to send cards to anyone you want.  If they can figure out how to use it, then they can use it to send cards to their own friends.  Of course they will not have all of the songs, but you will.

Sean Golden,
ODM Product Manager

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                          LETTERS
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Dear Sir,

My first issue of ODM (#80) came in on the 17th of June.  It's needless to say, but I had been eagerly awaiting its arrival.  The methods of copying files to the hard disk are great!  I like the choices given, and the ease of use.  It was the easiest and least painful method I've used to date.

I have transferred Cribbage, Where Am I, Auto Tracker and Birthday Card to Windows.  All seem to be working well.

I have not had any problems (at this time) using your programs.  I have not had to use any of the switches to force the computer or monitor to work properly.  All colors and graphics are crisp and clean!

Sincerely,
Richard Walters

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To: On Disk Monthly
From: Delbert Runyon
RE: Memo Writer 2.0

For my use, this is the best of the programs you have issued in all eight of the disks I have received from you.

This last issue (#78) put the real crown on this program with the new templates.  My favorite is the recipe template, because I frequently type out recipes for my wife's and my own use.

Thanks and keep up the good work.  With every issue I see improvements.

Sincerely,
Delbert Runyon.